Letter: New York schools deserve better

To the editor

Published 9:10 pm, Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Governor Andrew Cuomo addresses those gathered during the initial meeting of the New NY Education Reform Commission at the capitol on Monday, April 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Governor Andrew Cuomo addresses those gathered during the initial meeting of the New NY Education Reform Commission at the capitol on Monday, April 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Letter: New York schools deserve better

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Kudos to Fred LeBrun for his informative and insightful article "Throw Grenade, Walk Away," May 20. I am a retired educator with 35 years of service and have watched this political circus with lawmakers using education as a whipping boy every year. In this case, it's our governor who is accusing school boards of fiscal mismanagement, and is the "carnival barker" shouting "come in and watch our poorly performing teachers, administrators and school boards show."

Imagine accusing educators of this when a stone's throw away on Wall Street we have fiscally irresponsible people losing billions in a matter of days, dealing in, by their own admission, stupid, poorly thought out transactions. Maybe these individuals could donate a few billion each year to our schools before they lose it gambling. Where's the governor's outrage over this situation?

This hypocrisy is nothing new. Each year we watch the Legislature grapple with the inaccurately labeled "equalization rates" aiming for fairness in tax distribution to school districts. Has it ever worked? No. The wealthy districts get more, the poorer ones get less. Did the state's self-appointed No. 1 advocate for students expend some political capital remedying this hypocritical situation? No. Instead of our governor praising our schools for providing one of the best educations in the country in spite of obstacles more difficult than most states face, we get derision. Is that leadership?